Record and index card system



Jan. 19, 1932. TQLLEFSEN 1,842,131

RECORD AND INDEX CARD SYSTEM Filed July 15. 1929 s sheets-sheet 2 Jan.19, 1932, T, TLLEFSEN 1,842,131

RECORD AND INDEX CARD SYSTEM Filed July 15. 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 3Patented Jan. 19, 1932 UNITED STATES THORLEIF TOLLEFSEN, OF OSLO, NORWAYRECORD AND INDEX CARD SYSTEM Application filed July 15, 1929, Serial No.378,417, and in Great Britain January 28, 1929.

The present invention relates to record and index card systems of thekind, wherein the cards occupy an upright position in drawers or thelike, and the invention has for its object to provide such anarrangement that the cards may be easily lifted in relation to oneanother, so that the headings of a row of cards appear clearly for eachcard separately Without any risk of any of the lifted cards being hiddenbehind cards lying in front thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of aconvenient construction for lifting the cards either automatically or byhand.

In order to facilitate the sliding of a card in relation to theneighbouring cards, they are provided at the middle of the back spacewith a strip of a suitable smooth material such as for instancecelluloid. The strip extends from the bottom edge to the top edge of thecard. It may be fastened to the card by hook-shaped bends at the top andbottom, the said bends projecting preferably into slots in the card inorder to secure the connection. The bent strip portions may at the sametime be utilized as supports for coloured signals which are slid intoposition under the strip and are fastened at the'card edge by suitablemeans. v

The transparent strip is cheap and occupies a small space. It willtherefore be possible to provide all cards in use with such a strip,even in very large archives. The strips may also be transferred from oneside of the card to the other one. It will be convenient to grip thecard by the celluloid strip. Thereby is avoided that the cards becomedirty and worn, and this advantage is further increased by the fact thatthe correct card may be gripped without other cards being necessarilytouched.

The strips will also render a greater safety of the cards beingreinserted in position than a card without such a marking, because thelatter may easily. remain undiscovered among other cards and papers.

In order to enable a convenient handling of the cards they should fitwell in the box "m so to obtain a good guidinglaterally; The

lifting of the cards is efiected through a bottom slot in the boxcorresponding in position to the said smooth card strip.

The cards are suitably collected in boxes, whereby they may be takendown easily from a supporting shelf.

A lifting finger with inclined sides is provided for the purpose oflifting the cards of the series. The lifting finger is preferablyprovided with a covering of India rubber or it may consist of asubstance, such as cork or the like, which is adapted to make somefriction with the cards as they slide down upon the finger, whereby thecards will take a position in regular steps. Also the bottom of theboxes may be provided with a sounddeadening substance, and therefore thelifting finger need not be constructed with a frictional covering. Inthe present combination of cards with celluloid strip and a card lifterwith India rubber covering or the like, one card will be pressed againstthe next one during the lifting operation, whereby the cards Will adjustthemselves in regular rows. In order to facilitate the motion of thecards relatively to one another, celluloid strips are preferably used;The card lifter should be adjustable into different inclinations to the.card box bottom, according as the boxes contain afew cards or manycards.

Colored strips may also be used in order to mark special conditions suchas bad payers, fire-dangerous buildings etc.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Fig. l is aperspective view of a drawer provided Withcard boxes according to theinvention, some cards in one of the boxes being in a stepped liftedposition.

Fig. 2 shows the front side of a card with bent strip ends which areinserted into slots made in the card.

Fig. 3 shows a card lifter in side view adapted for manual operation.

Fig. 4 shows a device for mounting the card lifter on the exterior of adrawer.

Fig. 5 shows a lifting finger provided with card steps on its steep edgeto enable the 100 cards to ad ust themselves 1n stepped relation alongsaid edge.

Fig. (31s a side view of a holder for a card box adapted for lifting thecards and permitting their stepped falling-down.

Fig. 7 is a corresponding plan view.

Referring to Figure 1, a plurality of separate card boxes 1a arearranged in a drawer 1. Each card 2 corresponds in width substantiallyto the box width, whereby the cards are guided safely laterally.

Each card is provided with a celluloid strip 3, the ends 4 and 5 ofwhich are bent about the top and bottom edge respectively of the cardand are inserted into slots 6 and 7 made in the same. 8 denotes a signalwhich is inserted under the strip 4 before its insertion into the slot 6and is fastened to the top edge of the card by suitable means.

In Figure 3, 9 denotes the card lifted, 10 the lifting finger and 12 apin opposing some frictional resistance to turning the finger andenabling angular adjustment of the finger 10 in relation to the handleto obtain a suitable inclination of the finger side, and 11 denotes afinger covering, such as India rubber. A good result may be obtainedalso by making the finger proper from cork, hard caoutchouc or the like.

In order to enable the handling of the card lifter, the separate boxesand the drawer containing them are provided with a slot-like aperture 13in bottom, front and rear side.

Figure 4 shows a suitable arrangement of the card lifter outside adrawer. In mountings 20, 21 on the stationary frame of the drawer 1 onearm of a right-angularly bent rod 19 is journalled. The other arm ofsaid rod carries a card lifter, preferably one according to Figure 3. Aknurled head 22 serves for operation of the rod. The bottom 1s)lot 13extends throughout the length of the On the vertical portion of the roda stop 23 for a spring 24 is fastened which operates to raise the cardlifter after the adjustment of the drawer. Normally the card lifter isarranged on the underside of the front wall of the drawer frame. In casea special card is to be removed, the rod is pressed down by the head 22to the position shown in Fig. 4, the spring 24 being thereby compressed.When now the drawer 1 is pulled out, the different boxes 1a therein willpass by the card lifter in succession. These boxes are provided with thenecessary index indications to enable the operator to stop the drawerwith the card lifter in proper position under the desired box. If thenthe head 22 is released, the card lifter is raised by the spring 24,cansing thereby a portion of the cards within the box to occupy thestepped relation shown in Figure 1, whereby the desired card may beeasily removed. 7

In case the card lifter is to be operated manually, the box in questionis preferably firstly taken out from the drawer.

Figure 5 shows a lifting device for enabling a lifting and steppedfalling down of the cards during the moving of the device along the boxbottom. In order to obtain a safest possible handling of the cards, thedevice is provided with differently inclined lifting portions 25a, 25?),25c, and the edge 26 causing the cards to fall down in stepped relationis provided with steps 27.

Figures 6 and 7 show a special device serving to handle the cards in theseparate boxes. In these figures, 28 denotes the bottom part of thedevice. On this bottom part stationary abutments 29, 30 andspring-pressed abutments 31, 32' are arranged, the latter operated bysprings 42, 43, mounted on guide pins 40, 41, carried by the abutments31, 32, and engaging openings in the stationary abutments. Thecard-lifting device 33 is made according to Fig. 5 and is provided withlugs 34, which project through the bottom plate and prevent by means oftransverse pins 54 the device from lifting during the operation. Toenable its operation it is provided with a slot 35. Into this slotprojects a pin 36 on a crank arm 37 fastened to a shaft 38 which may beturned by a handle 39.

When the device is to be used, the box is positioned between theabutments 29, 30, and 31, 32. A fastening of boxes of different Width ismade possible by means of the spring mounting of the latter abutments.

Besides, the card-lifting device may be arranged in different manners.In case of great card collections it may be suitable to provide for aplurality of card lifters controlled by a key board, so that bydepressing one special key the particular card group is lifted. which isdesired in that special case.

Claims 1. Card for record and index card systems to be used particularlyin combination with a device for lifting the cards, characterized by theprovision on one side of the card at its middle portion of a transversestrip of smooth material adapted to facilitate the sliding of the cardon another contacting same.

2. Card for record and index card systems to be used particularly incombination with a device for lifting the cards, characterized by theprovision on one side of the card at its middle portion of a transversestrip of smooth transparent material adapted to facilitate the slidingof the card on another contacting same, the ends of the strip being bentabout the top and bottom edges of the card and fastened on the oppositeside thereof.

3. Card for record and index card systems to be used particularly incombination with a device for lifting the cards, characterized by theprovision on one side of the card at its middle portion of a transversestrip of smooth transparent material adapted to facilitate the slidingof the card on another contacting same, the ends of the strip being bentabout the top and bottom edges of the card and fastened on the oppositeside thereof by insertion of the said strip ends into slots made in thecard.

4. Card for record and index card systems to be used particularly incombination with a device for lifting the cards, characterized by theprovision on one side of the card at its middle portion of a transversestrip of smooth material adapted to facilitate the sliding of the cardon another contacting same, in combination with a box-like card holder,the sides of which form lateral guides for the cards and provided with alongitudinal bottom slot enabling the insertion of a card-lift ingdevice.

5. Card for record and index card systems to be used particularly incombination with a device for lifting the cards, characterized by theprovision on one side of the card at its middle portion of a transversestrip of smooth transparent material adapted to facilitate the slidingof the card on another contacting same, the ends of the strip being bentabout the top and bottom edges of the card and fastened on the oppositeside thereof, in combination with a box-like card holder, the sides ofwhich form lateral guides for the cards and provided with a longitudinalbot tom slot enabling the insertion of a card-lifting device.

6. Card for record and index card systems to be used particularly incombination with a device for lifting the cards, characterized by theprovision on one side of the card at its middle portion of a transversestrip of smooth transparent material adapted to facilitate the slidingof the card on another contacting same, the ends of the strip being bentabout the top and bottom edges of the card and fastened on the oppositeside thereof by insertion of the said strip ends into slots made in thecard, in combination with a box-like card holder, the sides of whichform lateral guides for the cards and provided with a longitudinalbottom slot enabling the insertion of a card-lifting device.

THORLEIF TOLLEFSEN.

